Tebedo v. Commissioner, 676 F. App'x 750

Tebedo received IRS deficiency notices for tax years 2006–2012 and filed a petition in the Tax Court asserting meritless tax-avoidance arguments.
The Tax Court set trial for January 25, 2016, issued a standing pretrial order requiring stipulations and a pretrial memorandum, and warned that failure to comply or appear could lead to dismissal.
Tebedo ignored discovery requests, refused to cooperate on stipulations, failed to file a pretrial memorandum, and hired a private court reporter who left when the court relied on its official reporter.
Tebedo did not appear at the January 25, 2016 trial; the Commissioner moved to dismiss for failure to prosecute and for entry of decision.
The Tax Court granted dismissal for failure to prosecute and entered judgment for the Commissioner for past-due taxes, penalties, and interest; Tebedo appealed only the dismissal (and a reporter-related complaint not preserved).

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether dismissal for failure to prosecute was an abuse of discretion	Dismissal was improper (argued court erred procedurally; also raised reporter issue)	Dismissal was justified by Tebedo’s repeated noncompliance and failure to appear	Affirmed — no abuse of discretion; dismissal appropriate
Whether lesser sanctions would suffice	Lesser sanctions should have been used	Repeated noncompliance showed lesser sanctions would be ineffective	Court held lesser sanctions would not be effective
Whether Tebedo’s hiring of a private court reporter preserved a procedural claim	Claimed court improperly refused his reporter, warranting vacatur	Issue not preserved because Tebedo failed to appear and object at trial	Not preserved for appeal; waived
Whether merits judgment should be vacated	Argued decision should be vacated due to reporter issue	Commissioner maintained merits decision stands; Tebedo didn’t challenge merits on appeal	Appellate court declined to disturb merits; focus was on procedural dismissal

Ducommun v. Comm’r, 732 F.2d 752 (10th Cir. 1983) (courts have inherent power to dismiss for want of prosecution)
Kurzet v. Comm’r, 222 F.3d 830 (10th Cir. 2000) (standard for reversing discretionary dismissal: definite and firm conviction of clear error)
Ecclesiastes 9:10-11-12, Inc. v. LMC Holding Co., 497 F.3d 1135 (10th Cir. 2007) (sets five-factor test for dismissal under Rule 41(b))
Bronson v. Swensen, 500 F.3d 1099 (10th Cir. 2007) (failure to raise or preserve arguments at trial can constitute waiver)